With one exception, I am happy that the Government of South Africa has legislated all items containing Genetically Modified Ingredients MUST be labeled accordingly. VICTORY

There is still one clause however that puzzles me. Why is it that:

………. Labelling will only be triggered when there is 5% or more GM content. The 5% threshold is not based on any scientific measure but purely on commercial considerations.

In 2011 a law was passed that food will be labeled according, but as with many laws, loopholes can always be found and manipulated. This new draft amendment is intended to firmly close these loopholes. (see here)

I am puzzled why it is that a certain percentage is considered OK to be allowed in the food supply without any notification? Just who do you think this was done to placate?

My goodness, surely there should be a clear black or white where GM’s are concerned. We should know – absolutely YEH or NAY and not dither about with a five percent or lower amount considered unnecessary. If it is bad – it is bad, and if it is good – ditto. There is absolutely no proof that these goods are as good as, or better than naturally grown foodstuffs, and until that can be proven one way of the other than let’s keep them out of the food chain. There are always consequences for so-called sloppy workmanship. If this was purely sloppy workmanship it could be fixed rather quickly, but in this case there is not a simple fix in sight. This was not sloppy workmanship, it was and is deliberate manipulation of the entire food chain for profit of multinationals. There will be a price to pay, and I believe it is our health and well-being which is this price.

DO YOU KNOW

GM Foods won’t feed the world:

A 2008 World Bank report concluded that increased bio fuel production is the major cause of the increase in food prices.[1] Bio fuels are crops grown for fuel rather than food. GM giant Monsanto has been at the heart of the lobbying for bio fuels — while profiting enormously from the resulting food crisis and using it as a PR opportunity to promote GM foods!

“The climate crisis was used to boost bio fuels, helping to create the food crisis; and now the food crisis is being used to revive the fortunes of the GM industry.” — Daniel Howden, Africa correspondent, The Independent (UK)[2]

“The cynic in me thinks that they’re just using the current food crisis and the fuel crisis as a springboard to push GM crops back on to the public agenda. I understand why they’re doing it, but the danger is that if they’re making these claims about GM crops solving the problem of drought or feeding the world, that’s bullshit.” – Prof Denis Murphy, head of biotechnology, University of Glamorgan, Wales [3]

DO YOU KNOW

GM foods have not been shown to be safe to eat

Genetic modification is a crude and imprecise way of incorporating foreign genetic material (e.g. from viruses, bacteria) into crops, with unpredictable consequences. The resulting GM foods have undergone little rigorous and no long-term safety testing. However, animal feeding tests have shown that GM foods have toxic effects, including abnormal changes in organs, immune system disturbances, accelerated ageing, and changes in gene expression.[15] Very few studies have been published on the direct effects on humans of eating a GM food. One such study found unexpected effects on gut bacteria, but was never followed up.[16]

It is claimed that Americans have eaten GM foods for years with no ill effects. But these foods are unlabeled in the US and no one has monitored the consequences. With other novel foods like trans fats, it has taken decades to realize that they have caused millions of premature deaths.[17]

“We are confronted with the most powerful technology the world has ever known, and it is being rapidly deployed with almost no thought whatsoever to its consequences.” — Dr Suzanne Wuerthele, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) toxicologist.